Christopher Todd, your host, welcomes Brandon Morris to today’s episode. He is currently the Hazardous Materials Instructor at the Security and Emergency Response Training Center or SERTC. Brandon is also the Chief Pilot for the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado. Prior to joining SERTC in 2014, he had two decades of experience responding to a wide array of hazmat, environmental, and oil and gas industry emergencies as well as numerous natural disasters. Mr. Morris is currently an OSHA Outreach Trainer through the University of Texas, and an Instructor for the Red Cross, Confined Space, and Vertical Rescue technician, Radiation Safety Officer, and Rescue Diver; he attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for Aerospace Engineering.   Brandon Morris joins this episode from the SERTC campus, where their responsibility is to provide the very best hazmat training possible. Brandon shares how they work training people to understand the processes that are required to deal with a transportation accident involving hazmat and to understand the options that are available. The most amazing fact about SERTC is that all the training happens on the actual transportation equipment that people will encounter in the field and that is how they get prepared to deal with real-world emergencies, giving them the means to do their job safely and effectively with the aid of unmanned aircraft technology.   Key Takeaways: [2:18] Brandon talks about how he got involved in unmanned systems and using drones for good. [5:05] Brandon shares what it is like to work at SERTC Campus. [7:25] SERTC focuses on surface transportation. [8:18] Brandon talks about the aircraft fleet that is used at SERTC. [10:22] Getting authorizations from the FAA. [12:28] What are the specific types of operations that SERTC provides training for? [14:11] Brandon recommends aircraft and units for new agencies. [15:32] Be prepared to fail. [17:26] Brandon shares his thoughts about the future for automation and aircraft. [19:47] Testing with Remote ID and unmanned operations in joint air space. [21:05] How does the response scenario look like when there is a derailment? How are people trained for this kind of incident? [24:10] The case of wildfires. [25:52] The media can be a huge asset if you just talk to them. [27:12] Brandon talks about the recent train derailment they assisted. [29:07] New uses for drones emerging during the pandemic. [32:45] New aircraft in the small UAS technology category. [36:10] Brandon shares his thoughts on the future of unmanned aircraft systems with public safety, hazmats, disaster, and incident response. [37:48] Free training from SERTC.   Mentioned in this episode: Airborne International Response Team Presented by AiRXOS, part of GE Aviation with additional support from FIRSTiZ and Pix4D AIRT is the leading 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supporting Drones For Good and Public Safety UAS Become a member of DroneResponders for free. SERTC   Tweetables and quotes: “You want people to train as they fight.” “Brace yourself from failure, learn from it, and move on.” “Cheaper drones are doing as well as the most expensive ones.” “Everybody should be asking, ‘What am I going to do with the drone?’ before purchasing one.”